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The Forum Communications News Service is the premier news wire service covering the Upper Midwest, including the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In addition to breaking and enterprise news, we offer a wide variety of sports, features, business, agriculture, outdoors and opinion content. For more information about the services we offer or to discuss content subscriptions, please contact us.

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You can stream the State of the State address by Gov. Doug Burgum from Minot State University at this link beginning at 10 a.m. Following Burgum's address, State Rep. Ron Guggisberg, District 11- Fargo will deliver the Democratic response via Facebook Live here .

ST. PAUL -- Fire deaths have increased 30 percent in Minnesota so far this year to 56, and officials are worried about the historically dangerous holiday season. Last year at this time, there were 42 fire deaths. In 2015, there were 57 deaths, the highest number since 2002 when there were 64. The state’s all-time low figure was 35 in 2009 and the highest was 134 in 1976. The three leading causes of residential fires in Minnesota are all holiday staples: cooking, heating and open flames, although the leading cause of fatal fires in Minnesota is careless smoking.

WASHINGTON—Minnesota gets a new U.S. senator on Jan. 3. A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Al Franken said on Wednesday, Dec. 20, that the senator will resign on Jan. 2. Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith is to be sworn in the next day. The announcement puts to rest rumors that Franken will decide to stay in office after announcing two weeks ago that he would resign over sexual misconduct allegations. At the time, he only said he would leave the Senate "in coming weeks." That produced speculation that he may opt to remain in office.

ST. PAUL—The price tag for treating older Minnesotans for chronic diseases is projected to increase by billions over the next 10 years, according to a study released on Monday. Analyzing the state's data on health insurance claims, the Minnesota Department of Health study concludes treating Minnesotans older than 60 for chronic diseases will cost $16.1 billion by 2023, up 65 percent from the $9.8 billion paid in 2014.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., faces new allegations of sexual assault after two unnamed women have come forward accusing Franken of grabbing their buttocks on separate occasions, the Huffington Post and Star Tribune is reporting.

A Minnesota Senate staff member filed a complaint with the Senate's human resources department on Tuesday charging that state Sen. Dan Schoen, DFL-South St. Paul Park, sent her a photo of a man's genitals in 2015. Ellen Anderson told Minnesota Public Radio that Schoen used Snapchat, a mobile messaging app, to send her the sexually explicit photo. Schoen was a House legislator at that time but was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2016. Schoen's attorney, Paul Rogesheske, denied that his client sent such a sexual message to Anderson or any other woman.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minneapolis-based Jostens and the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee plan to bring the jeweler’s 33 championship rings it has created for Super Bowl winners on tour. The tour starts in Minneapolis Sept. 5 with a six-day run at the Star Tribune Atrium at Capella Tower. The rings will then be on display for the Vikings’ Sept. 11 home opener in Vikings Plaza.

ST. PAUL — Minnesota's obesity rate among adults crept upwards in 2016, but remains below that of its neighbors, according to a national study released Thursday, Aug. 31. The study, by New Jersey-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found 27.8 percent of adults in Minnesota were obese in 2016, up 1.7 percent from a year prior. That figure is good for 18th out of the country's 50 states and District of Columbia. South Dakota ranked 24th with 29.6 percent, Wisconsin was 29th (30.7 percent), North Dakota was 36th (31.9 percent) and Iowa was 39th (32 percent).

ST. PAUL -- A post-summer survey shows an upward trend of Minnesota’s tourism business, the state’s tourism promotion office said. Summer revenue was up for 42 percent of survey respondents and occupancy was up 35 percent, according to Explore Minnesota on Wednesday, Aug. 30. Meanwhile, 30 percent of respondents experienced a decrease in revenue and 31 percent said occupancy was down. The hotel and motel sector reported decreased occupancy due to significant growth of new hotel rooms in the Twin Cities area, the tourism office said in its news release.